Chapter 37
Hazard stuck to his word. He didn’t tease Ice. Didn’t flirt with him. In fact, he was quiet in general. He put his energy toward being the best team member he could be. And he was certain that quiet focus was the right way to accomplish that.
He was leaving his bedroom after a post workout shower when the barracks phone rang. Jax was at the kitchen table closer to the phone, but he was occupied resewing his name badge to his uniform so Hazard hustled over to answer it. “Corporal Dylan Mitchell speaking.”
“Corporal Mitchell. Your unit leader wants to see you and your team in Strategy Room Six asap.”
“We’re on our way.”
Hazard hung up the phone. “We’ve been summoned,” he said to Jax.
“Want me to let the captain know?” Jax asked as he rose from the table.
Hazard shook his head. “I’ve got it.”
He went over and knocked on Ice’s closed door. Ice’s deep voice came though the wood panel.
“Come in.”
Hazard opened the door but didn’t go inside the room. Ice was at his desk, his large frame testing the integrity of the chair he sat in. He held one of his wolf masks, touching up the black paint with a small brush.
“Major wants to see us in the strategy room,” Hazard said.
The alpha silently nodded.
After passing along the message, Hazard closed the door. Jax was ready to go, so the two of them headed for HQ together. As he left the barracks, he noted that it felt strange not to invite Ice to walk up with him as he always had before. But they didn’t need to be buddy-buddy and walk everywhere together, especially since putting distance between them was a vital part of his plan to get over the captain before his next heat.
“You alright?” Jax asked as they walked past a unit marching and calling cadence and support vehicles driving across the base.
“Yeah. Why do you ask?”
“You seem a bit off. You were quiet on our last mission.”
Hazard shrugged. “We were on surveillance stakeout. Of course I was quiet.”
“Bullshit. You’re normally yapping it up on comms, driving Ortiz up a wall and making Ice grind his teeth into dust behind that wolf mask. But you barely said anything more than, Yes, Major , the entire mission.”
“I was keeping it professional.”
“Huh.”
Jax made the noncommittal sound as if he didn’t quite believe Hazard’s claim, but he didn’t press. They entered headquarters, where the halls were as busy as always.
“Well, for what it’s worth, I missed your chatter.”
Hazard looked up at his squadmate in surprise. He hadn’t expected his decision to cut down on his talking to get more than a passing notice from his teammates. But there was a hint of real concern in the alpha’s gaze.
“Don’t worry,” Hazard assured him. “I’ve never been able to stay quiet for long. Just ask all my former teachers and drill sergeants.”
Jax looked slightly relieved at his joke. He tugged Hazard in for a one-armed hug and a quick scenting.
“Good. Your chatty ass livens up our missions. Makes catching and killing bad guys more fun.”
Hazard snorted a laugh. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
They’d reached the strategy room. Hazard pulled open the door and they went inside. Ortiz was already there, an open mission brief folder on the table in front of her.
“Where’s Ice?” Ortiz asked.
“He should be right behind us,” Jax answered as he and Hazard took their seats.
As they waited for Ice, Hazard thought about what Jax had said — that he’d been too quiet lately. The privates he’d trained the other day had said something similar. Not to his face of course. The humans in the group had whispered complaints that his training was boring as they were leaving, forgetting about his shifter hearing until one of the shifter soldiers shushed them up.
Hazard sighed in frustration. He was doing his job. The way he was supposed to do it. It shouldn’t be a problem, but first the privates and now Jax were remarking on it. Had he gone too far in the opposite direction from his normal attitude in his attempt to get over Ice? Should he have stayed the same while he distanced himself from Ice? It would be glaringly obvious if all of a sudden he was chatty with everyone except the captain. Or, maybe it wouldn’t be.
Most people probably weren’t paying that close attention to him and the captain. More than likely, no one would notice their relationship had changed. Plus, Ice wasn’t exactly known as a social butterfly. If anyone did notice things were different, they’d probably assume he was respecting Ice’s preference for solitude. Either option left him free to be his usual outgoing self, while maintaining the necessary distance between himself and the captain.
The door opened and Ice came in. Hazard fought back his instinct to smile and welcome the alpha, deliberately keeping his eyes on the table in front of him instead. After Ice took his seat, Ortiz rose to stand at the head of the table. She got the meeting started with a question.
“Remember Rufus Vaughn?”
Jax nodded. “Yeah. He’s the head of Vaughn Inc. And he’s funneling money to Cortez’s cause.”
“Vaughn isn’t the only thing he’s head of. He’s also the leader of the Heritage Den, a secret society for shifters.”
“Let me guess,” Hazard said. “Their society is all about returning to the traditional shifter way of life.”
“You are correct. This Saturday, the Heritage Den is having a black tie masked ball, hosted by Vaughn at his mansion outside Tulsa. Many of their members will be there. I don’t expect them to outright talk about any of their plans, but there may be some nuggets of information dropped during private conversations. But that’s not the only reason I’m interested in this party. I want the guest list for the event. It’s the quickest way to find out who is in this secret society. We can use it to start our own list of those who might be working with Cortez.”
“Sounds like it’s time for an undercover infiltration.” A beat of excitement pulsed through Hazard at the idea. He loved doing covert work.
“It is,” Ortiz confirmed. Hazard, you and Jax will pretend to be a couple and go in undercover. Scope out the party and listen to conversations. And most importantly find and steal that guest list. Ice will be on overwatch. And I’ll—.”
Ice suddenly spoke.
“Major, let me go in with Hazard.”
At the request, Ortiz paused before she flicked her gaze to Hazard. “That work for you, Hazard?”
Hazard knew she wasn’t asking his permission, more like checking that he was fine working so closely with Ice. And he was. He could separate business from his personal issues.
“I’m good to go, Major,” he said firmly. He resisted looking at Ice to try and determine why the alpha had volunteered himself. The reason was undoubtedly tied to strategy. There was no other reason for Ice to specifically request to work with him.
“Okay then. Ice and Hazard are inside. Jax is on overwatch and I’ll be outside the grounds with support team on standby in case things go tits up.”
“I’m assuming we can’t wear our dress uniforms to this shindig.” He hadn’t worn anything other than his dress uniform to special occasions since he’d joined the Legion, but that wouldn’t work for an undercover op.
“Yeah. And masked ball doesn’t mean you can wear that wolf mask, Captain.” Jax joked.
Ortiz laughed but agreed. “No dress greens and no wolf mask. The requisitions department will supply you both with tuxedoes and masks so neither of you will have to worry about what to wear. Now let’s go over the plans for the operation.”
* * *
Tuesday night, Hazard dressed in the tuxedo he’d been given. It was a soft dove gray with black velvet trim on the jacket lapels. The color was suitable for a high society omega. His white dress shirt was in the collarless style designed to show off mating glands. The passion bruise Ice had given him had faded by now. But if he still had it, it would have been fine, as civilian omegas often proudly wore their partner’s mark, even before they were officially mated.
Finished dressing, he reached for the outfit’s main accessory — a half-face Venetian masquerade mask. It was green with a black lace overlay and touches of silver on the edges. A trio of black velvet ribbons fell from the left side of the mask, draping over his shoulder. It was an elegant look.
Ready to go, he walked out of his room. Ice was already there, standing in front of the TV. Hazard came to a dead stop when he saw him. He’d seen the alpha in his uniform. Hell, he’d seen him completely naked. But this, seeing him in a tuxedo that fit him like a glove, had Hazard’s tongue sticking to the roof of his mouth.
His tux, shirt, and mask were all solid black. The slight sheen to the tux’s material emphasized the way his powerful shoulders filled out the jacket. His mask was different than Hazard’s. The requisitions department had clearly made an effort to obtain a mask to fit Ice’s usual degree of coverage. It was closer to a helmet with an attached face mask. It fit close to his head, hiding his white blond hair. But the lower half of his face was left bare to Hazard’s gaze.
He stared at Ice’s hard jaw and full lips for a long moment before he came to his senses and yanked his eyes up to meet Ice’s. The alpha was watching him just as closely. Hazard swallowed hard. Usually, Ice’s tall figure was imposing in all black, but tonight, while he was still imposing, he was also devastatingly handsome.
“You look good,” he said softly.
“So do you.”
Ice slowly took the five steps necessary to reach him. Hazard remained frozen in place, watching his approach. They couldn’t wear blockers tonight, so the alpha’s warm cedar scent teased Hazard’s nose once they were standing almost toe to toe.
“Here, I have something for you.”
Hazard looked down at Ice’s hand extended toward him in the space between their bodies. He held a stiletto knife with a fancily decorated handle in the palm of his hand. He pressed a button and the sharp blade flicked out. Ice spun the knife between his fingers. Then he pressed down on the blade, disappearing it back into its handle before holding it out to Hazard again.
Confused, Hazard looked up at his partner. “We’re not supposed to go in armed on this op.”
“I know. But I want you protected.”
Hazard’s heart thumped. His alpha wanted to protect him. His Instinct glowed with pleasure at the thought. But then, Hazard mentally shook his head. No. Ice only meant that as a CO watching out for his subordinate. He didn’t mean it personally, because Ice was not his alpha .
“Keep this on you. It’s decorative, the kind of thing these people will see as an interesting conversation piece. It won’t raise questions if anyone sees it.”
“Okay.” Hazard reached out and took the knife. The handle was black, decorated with inlaid silver scrollwork. It was a gorgeous piece of weaponry. He was about to put it in his inner jacket pocket when Ice shook his head.
“No. Use this.”
He pulled a thin black leather knife belt from his pants pocket. Hazard saw the strap had a buckle closure and a small two-loop sheath that would allow him to wear the stiletto blade around his waist.
“I’ll put it on for you,” Ice said as he moved in even closer.
His heart pounding at their proximity, Hazard opened his jacket and pulled his cummerbund up. Ice wrapped the thin strap around his waist, buckling it closed with the blade settled horizontally at the small of his back. Once the knife was in place, Ice slipped the cummerbund back down over it.
“Thank you,” Hazard said, his voice low.
Ice merely nodded, his dark gaze indecipherable.
There was no reason for them to continue standing so close that Hazard could feel the warmth from Ice’s body and pull in his rich scent with every breath he took. But neither of them moved. They stayed in place, almost but not quite touching, staring into each other’s eyes. They were still standing too close to each other when Jax opened his bedroom door and walked out to the common area.
“You two are looking sharp.”
Hazard cleared his throat and took a step back from the captain. “Haven’t worn one of these things since senior prom,” he said as he adjusted his tux, his voice unnaturally loud and jovial.
“You look good in it. You both do. It should be no problem for you to mingle with that high society crowd.”
“Here’s hoping,” he said as he rebuttoned his jacket. They needed to blend in to succeed on this mission.
“Come on, Ortiz is waiting for us,” Jax said before heading out.
“Ready?” Ice asked.
Hazard nodded. “Yeah. Let’s go.”